


Unchain My Heart | Greg House

by Dead_Fandoms_Revived



Category: House M.D.
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29974785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dead_Fandoms_Revived/pseuds/Dead_Fandoms_Revived
Summary: Dr. Kylan Taylor’s personal file describes her as charming, impulsive, and exceptionally vulgar. She likes to think otherwise.She is Princeton, New Jersey’s newly appointed county medical examiner, and her story only begins when she is sent to work at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. With a knack for forensic pathology, she thought she’d go back to hiding in the depths of the basement where no living thing could bug her.She was wrong.With the help of James Wilson, her old college chum, her cat Guinevere, who is sometimes seen in her office, and the numerous bodies thrown in her wake, who may or may not still be breathing, Kylan should have adjusted nicely to her new workspace.But one cynical, over-bearing, sarcastic Dr. House will either make her life a living hell, or her own precious heaven.
Relationships: Greg House/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Unchain My Heart | Greg House

**THE WALLS SEEMED TO BE CAVING IN, not because Kylan Taylor was nervous on her first day on the job, no, it was all the people that seemed to be alive that made her nerves twitch and spasm.** Working for five years alone in a basement does something to a person’s psyche, and even more so when the people you’re constantly surrounded by have been dead for more than a few days. As in, they twitched, gassed, and sometimes even _breathed_ , but most of them had either their brain bashed in, or worse, no head at all, to comment on how her hair was always pulled with a broken pen, how her makeup became horribly smudged after working thirty hours straight, how sometimes she smelt like a mix of formaldehyde, Chinese food and other people’s BO after long nights. Now she had to interact with people. Gross, disgusting, breathing human beings.

“It won’t be that bad,” Dr. James Wilson reassured her, handing Kylan a manila folder of paperwork she had yet to fill out. About three inches thick of stapled books and contracts she’d barely graze through, and she stuck it right underneath her arm with the other packs of paper and a mass amount of protocol packets she’s received since she entered the doors that morning. The hospital must have chopped down a new tree just for her paperwork alone, how many forests rested on her new desk?

“Won’t be that bad,” Kylan scoffed, rolling her eyes, “didn’t you say that about medical school before I applied?”

James pressed one of the elevator buttons, downwards to Kylan’s new and improved basement, and chuckled to himself. It was hard not to. She seemed to still be pissed about not getting the full hardened truth of how awful and tedious medical school really was, instead, James had dazzled his story with a flat-out hopeful lie while she still attended Columbia University without him. Kylan had such childish eyes back then. Like honey drizzled in coffee.

“If I remember correctly, I said it was like normal classes.” And a smile spread on his pretty-boy features, diverting his attention from Kylan enough to make his point, “what I didn’t tell you was the classes were all set on fire and you had only oil to put them out.”

The elevator doors opened briefly and fast enough before Kylan could stab in another remark about her undergrad years. A few nurses dressed in colorful scrubs stepped out, and James and Kylan stepped in to replace them just as quickly.

“Any reason why the hospital is so busy?” She asked, pressing the button to the last level. Her curiosity seemed to be getting the better of her. She usually wouldn’t have pried, but with James, she allowed it to slide. “Any epidemics I should be worried about?”

“It’s always like this.”

“ _Always_?”

A shiver ran down her spine. Hospitals were never her favorite, in fact, she resented them with every fiber in her being. Everything about modern medicine caused her skin to crawl in a million different ways, the smells, the touch, the needles. She could sew up a body, chop it up, pull out their organs no problem, but it usually took three weeks of procrastination and a few sedatives just to get through a simple flu shot.

Watching a thirty-seven-year-old woman sniffling with her lips quivering, wet eyes and swollen cheeks just over a simple flu shot were deemed as downright embarrassing in her eyes, even more so if it was her young coworkers doing the job.

Kylan took a deep sigh as the elevator dinged at their arrival. Most of the hospitals Kylan had visited usually had empty basements, this one was no different. The lights were the usual bright LSD types, overhanging cement walls, cold air and an aura that reeked of old death. The morgue hadn’t smelt of new corpses just yet, but it soon would be. Most nurses and doctors wouldn’t dare come down to investigate the spooky sounds emitting from down below past the morgue.

Which was excellent. Kylan liked to blast Britney Spears in her headphones as she worked. There didn’t need to be wondering eyes investigating the autopsies. What thoughts would come in your mind if you saw a middle-aged woman singing along to Toxic while messing with a bone saw in someone’s torso? She’d probably receive a lengthy letter on proper procedures again if a staff member showed up in the midst of her examination, and they’d most likely repeat the sentence of “do not have a smile on your face as you chop someone’s brother in half.”

She claimed she never had a smile, the victim’s unsuspecting family said otherwise.

When they exited the elevator, it didn’t take long for James to pop out another question, “How do you like being the state medical examiner? This time by yourself right?”

Kylan kept a grin from forming on her face. Ah yes. Dr. Kylan Taylor, chief state medical examiner, board-certified and voted to be Mercer County’s one and only top forensic pathologist who specializes in the strange and unusual. Dream come true that’s for sure. After her long residency and following the now-retired Dr. Shoo, she was finally ready to take her first steps alone, and her heart was pumping just thinking about it.

“Yep,” she said, now a white smile glowing in the otherwise dark hallways. “I always liked to cut open bodies, working through the hospital also prevents me from having to go to the crime scenes myself now. Those interns who call themselves "death investigators” really help me out.“ She giggled a little, "now they’ll just drop off the bodies and photos for me. Less bloody in the long run.”  
James stifled a laugh. There was a reason why he picked to help the living. Bloody crime scenes were not something he’d be able to get past, Kylan however, didn’t even seem fazed.

Kylan Taylor was a five-foot-two woman with dark auburn hair, chartreuse eyes, and exceptional beauty. Everything about her radiated, from her perfect smile, the way her messy waves framed her face, her stance, her voice hidden with a slight Spanish accent. Where someone like her got the love for the dead remained a mystery even to good, long-time friend Wilson.

“So have you starred in any other pornos since you left college?” She asked out of the blue, with a hardy laugh bellowing from the pits of her stomach. “Because I’m sure some of the nurses would like to know the gentleman Dr. Wilson is not as gentlemanly as they first predicted.”

Wilson stopped dead in his tracks, and Kylan had no choice but to stop and wait for him, even though her laughter was echoing the quiet hallways, James was one step away from having an aneurysm. He seemed to be both embarrassed and angry, and on the brink of hyperventilating just by thinking about it.

Everyone had mistakes in college, Wilson just happened to have been a part of a future porno.

“You are not to tell anyone about that.” he cautioned, causing Kylan to laugh even harder.

“So uptight.”

“I’m warning you, I have people upstairs that will use that to their advantage, and I don’t need them knowing.”

Kylan’s eyebrow cocked, “I thought you said everyone here was your friend?”

“They are.” And with her now silent, he seemed to be on the verge of either breaking out more information or keeping it to himself. But the way she stood, her eyes squinting, her arms crossed over her chest and waiting, he had no choice. He had to explain now, or she’d find some unorthodox way of getting the information herself. _Sounded awfully familiar_. “Okay, some of them may not be my best friends, but there are some that like to make my life miserable.”

“Miserable how?”

Wilson’s beeper blew off before he said anything, and for a moment he seemed hesitant to even take it seriously.

“Listen, I have to go back upstairs, think you can settle in yourself for a minute?” He asked, “this shouldn’t be very long.”

“Of course.”

He gestured down the hall, pointing to one of the wooden doors on the left, “go through there. Your office is right next to the main morgue, so you shouldn’t have too many difficulties finding it. If you need any help you can come back upstairs and ask for me or Cuddy.”

She nodded, and Wilson zipped back down the hallways and back to the elevator. For a second, she didn’t move. The hospital basement was too quiet now, and the taps of her heels echoed in a way she did not like. There were chairs sitting outside doorways, for reasons unknown, and the light down the hall seemed to be flickering.

Kylan liked dead bodies, but she didn’t like the idea of working in a hospital that may or may not be haunted. If she heard something move or a weird voice echoing in the night, she was going to quit. Right then and there, no questions asked. Didn’t matter if they were willing to pay a few million dollars for her to stay, being haunted was not worth it.

But luckily she hadn’t heard anything yet, so Kylan graciously took the time to skedaddle her way into the room.

Just as Wilson had said, her new office was hidden in the back. Warm air hit her face momentarily, and the smell of something sweet caused her to sneeze as she took a glance around. It seemed the Hospital Interior Designer didn’t leave even her new office out of the budget.

Mahogany bookshelves with vases and sculptures hiding in its walls, a set of encyclopedias Kylan would never read, a desk with a high-tech computer system and neatly organized file holders, small lockers, a pretty little lamp, and just as she predicted, enough paper to fill a large forest. She couldn’t believe she was right, and she smiled to herself as she slowly walked to her new desk. Glass top. Perfect.

Kylan placed the files Wilson had given her on the corner and set her purse at the side of the table leg, biting her lip with a smile. She had a new coat rack where she could hang her scarves and coats in the winter, and a hook for her lab coats when she had the time to bring them in from her old space. She’d need to get the rest of her medical supplies from her house too, and she’d be all settled in, as she had always been wanting.

It was better than her old office at the county police station that was for sure She had a desk there, and shelves just like the ones presented to her now, but much smaller, and basically the room itself was about the size of a coat closet. It would get too hot in the summers, too cold in the winter, it felt like a meat locker half the time and she had to wear some sort of winter coat and finger less gloves just to do paperwork without shivering.

This was a much better improvement.

Before Kylan could even start going through the paperwork, a strange noise in the back caused her skin to crawl with goosebumps. For a moment she had figured it to be the strong winds she had experienced in the parking lot, but another shuffling caused her logical thoughts to scurry away just as quick.  
Her office had giant windows showcasing the first part of the morgue, but from what she could tell no lights were on, and there was definitely no one coming from the hall. She would have heard the footsteps on the concrete floors or even the ding of the elevator. This was much different, and it caused her spine to shiver.

Kylan hesitated on going anywhere near the windows. Wilson would have mentioned something about animals sneaking in, right? Or even mention if anyone else would be wondering the morgue, cleaners, nurses, someone. But she doubted someone would even go into the main laboratory, and doing so in the dark was downright stupid. There were thousands of dollars of sharp knives, saws, needles and equipment that no ordinary person could just get their hands on, and one wrong move those things would cause some serious damage.  
She kept her eyes locked at the windows, waiting for something to emerge. But nothing came out it, and another loud bang caused her skin to jump right off her bones.

Against her better judgment, Kylan slowly walked forward. Waiting for a dead person to smack against the window, bloody and oozing like those horror movies her brother loved so much. But even in her wildest imagination, she had doubted something like that would ever happen, so she kept close to the wall trying to find the damn light switch to the morgue. Maybe if it was a raccoon or a rat, the light would scare them off. Give her enough time to warn staff on an infestation of rodents and they could come and clean it quick. God, even the thought of having a few rats where dead bodies would be sitting caused her stomach to churn.

Kylan fiddled with the light switch until a flood of artificial flood lamps lit the room. It seemed the first part of the morgue was clean, untouched, the tools hanging off nails and boards, steel glimmering in the light. Sinks seemed to be unused, aprons and refrigerators sat in corners, and a scale polished and ready for use on the main table. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but this was only the first part. The secondary part of the morgue was something she wasn’t ready for. The place where they shoved the bodies in those metal crates screwed on the wall, where tags hung from people’s blue toes and made gross noises as gas began to be let out of their orifices. But Wilson would have mentioned bodies already dressed down on the slabs. The place was brand new, cleaned just for Kylan. There was no way there were already bodies taking up space on the cold tables.

Another shuffle caused her to nerves to spike, and again, she almost wanted to follow her better instincts and run back upstairs where someone could investigate for her. Hell, as much as she knew Wilson hated ghosts and anything spooky, she would feel better if he was standing behind her in case something bad happened. What would happen if a crazed raccoon bit her on the arm? Or worse, a crazy patient who escaped from the psych ward. All those tools were nice weapons if they needed to be, and Kylan certainly didn’t like the idea of someone wielding them against her.

Kylan carefully pitter-pattered to the next light switch, hoping to whoever controlled the heavens to just be a few dead bodies rotting in the cold. Her fingers slid against the chilly tile, and her fingers slid against the plastic switch, she flipped it on.

Nothing.

Not a god damn thing.

She let out a deep breath Kylan wasn’t aware she had been holding. Her chest hurt now. Like her heart had just pumped enough blood and adrenaline to run a ten mile marathon. Twice. She laughed at herself on how ridiculous she had been acting. She could only imagine how Wilson would look when she’d tell him the thoughts she had over some old piping or some bullshit like that.  
Just as she flicked the light back off, she turned, and collided with a mass of fabric.

“Jesus Christ!” She yelled, slamming into the man who scared the crap out of her.

His aftershave permeated her nose for a second, like spice, and she staggard back, trying to put as much distance as she could between the two of them. Which wasn’t much, since she had hit the back of the autopsy table, moving it an inch or two causing a loud skid to cover the heavy breathing. Her hands leaned on the sides, and she tried to not to let her nerves get the better of her.

“What the hell are you doing in there?” She finally asked the moment she could break out a few words. The room was barely lit from the other room’s light, but she could definitely tell it was a man from the way his shoulders were shaped, the clothing, the smell still stuck in her nostrils. “What the fuck are you doing here in the dark?”

She seemed more surprised than angry. Sure someone was sticking their nose in her new toys, but that didn’t mean she cared enough to get a little angry. Maybe a signal or a word or two could have stopped her from wanting to rip off his balls for scaring her like that. Who in their right mind just snooped around a morgue touching things that didn’t belong to them?

The light flickered back on, and the bright light caused her eyes to hurt from the sudden adjustment.

The man kept silent, moving past her with a clear and visual limp. For a second she thought she might have kneed him somewhere, but the looks of a cane resting on the cabinet counter across from her, she doubted she injured him. At least, not enough to cause anything like that.

“I sometimes kept pills down here, I’m guessing someone hid them or threw them away.” He finally said, and Kylan couldn’t help but get a little irritated at his condescending tone.

“You kept pills in a morgue?” She spit.

“I’m sure you keep pills in cupboards too.”

“Not in a _morgue_.”

Kylan would have been freaked out on coming face-to-face with a man so suddenly, especially in the dark and in a room by herself. But she bet herself that if the time came, all she’d have to do was kick him in his bad leg and take off. No immediate amount of danger that screamed red at her, at least, from what she could tell.

He was a taller man, much older than her by ten years from the indication of his peppered hair, he seem withered in the face, wrinkles near his eyes, a much older demeanor overall in his appearance. His limp added to the age, but his clothing, loose and almost ill fitting, made Kylan second-guess herself.

“Who are you? How’d you even get access to the basement, you need a key-card.” Kylan said matter-of-fact. her breathing steady finally, and now she wanted actual answers. She didn’t doubt he was an actual doctor, but she would be damn well surprised if he was.

As if he thought it was a stupid question, he grabbed a plastic ID card much like hers from his jacket pocket, shoved it close to her nose, and pulled it away like three seconds staring at a white piece of glistening words would give Kylan all the information she needed. But she did get one thing.

A name.

_Dr. Gregory House._

_Well I’ll be damned._ She thought. _This guy is a damn doctor_.


End file.
